Course Syllabus «Business English»

Approved
Academic Council of the Undergraduate Program
“Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication”
June, 21, 2018 Protocol # 4

Author K.A. Chermoshentseva

Number of credits 6 credits
Contact hours 100 hrs
Self-Study hours 128 hrs
Year 4th year
Course Type elective

I. OBLECTIVES, OUTCOMES AND PRE-REQUISITES

The main objectives of the course “Business English” are to master various language,
social and business skills.
Learning outcomes upon finishing the course:

Know:
- advanced business vocabulary;
- essential economic and business information;
- how to use language skills to get necessary information from various sources;
- basic research skills;
- social and cultural differences.

Be able:
- to communicate efficiently with other people and understand social roles of other
participants;
- to use modern technologies and devices to solve communicational problems;
- to use business vocabulary appropriately;
- to discuss and respond to the issues in the articles;
- to use business skills (giving presentations, negotiating, telephoning, giving
teleconferences, etc.);
- to read and understand messages, letters, etc. and to respond appropriately;
- to make summary;
- to used lexical and grammatical resources.

Develop skills:

− business communication skills;

− different language skills useful in business communication (listening, reading,
speaking).

Studying the course “Business English” is based on the following subjects:

- Speech Practice course;
- English Grammar course.
 To master the course a student is supposed to know and have:
• B2 level;
• how to use English for gaining information from various information resources;
• basic information on social and cultural differences;
• basic social skills;
• basic research skills.

The course main features may be used in further studies such as:

1 Various on-line courses;

2 Language for speacial purposes.

II. COURSE PLAN

Unit 1 First Impressions

LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – first impressions in presentations
READING AND LANGUAGE – how to make first good impression, networking and socializing,
reading the text “It’s not what you know”, learning networking strategies
BUSINESS SKILLS – networking, working in pairs, working out strategies and behavioural
model for different cultures
WRITING - formal and informal register, learning how to write a formal e-mail (structure and
useful language)
CASE STUDY – “Movers and Shakers”, holding a meeting and writing a formal invitation,
networking with future business partners, promoting your ideas, writing a formal letter.

Unit 2 Training
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – Apprenticeships, types, history, present situation, options,
completing the summary.
READING AND LANGUAGE – reading the text “Training leaders to connect the dots”,
learning new methods of sharing information, stuff training, ability to share and discuss
important issues.
BUSINESS SKILLS – clarifying and confirming, making telephone calls, formal and informal
style, various techniques for confirming, checking and correcting information, role-playing a call.
WRITING - formal and informal register, learning how to write a formal e-mail (structure and
useful language)
CASE STUDY – Training at “Carter and Randall”, discussing training programs, finding the
best way to train stuff, clarifying and confirming information, devising a suitable training
program, writing a formal letter.

Unit 3 Energy
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – clean energy, discussing types of energy, advantages and
disadvantages.
READING AND LANGUAGE – reading the text “The danger of losing touch with reality”,
discussing modern and future energy problems.
BUSINESS SKILLS – decision making, decision making meeting skills, discussing types of
meeting, sharing experiences,
WRITING - layout and structure of reports, language and structure.
CASE STUDY – Energy saving at “Tumalet Software”, developing energy saving strategies,
reducing energy consuming writing a report.

Unit 4 Marketing
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – customer relationship management, marketing methods,
customer-centric market, methods of retaining customers.
READING AND LANGUAGE – reading the text “Is the customer always right. Yes, she is”,
strategies for working with customers
BUSINESS SKILLS – making an impact in presentations, useful vocabulary.
WRITING - presentation slides.
CASE STUDY – Relaunching “Home2u”, improving the marketing campaign, brainstorming
meetings, decision making meetings, making a presentation.

Unit 5 Employment trends

LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – the future of work, working prospectives, working then and
now, employment trends.
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “Giganomics: And what don’t you do for a living?”,
employment trends, vocabulary.
BUSINESS SKILLS – resolving conflict, way of resolving conflict at workplace.
WRITING - avoiding conflict in e-mails
CASE STUDY – “Delaney” call-centre absenteeism, decision making meetings, reducing stress
level, writing a formal letter.

Unit 6 Ethics
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – corporate responsibility, history and present situation
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “The corporate conscience” corporate ethical issues,
ways of resolving, vocabulary and useful phrases.
BUSINESS SKILLS – Ethical problem-solving, giving advice.
WRITING – meetings and action points.
CASE STUDY – Dilemmas at “Daybreak” improving labels and products, solving ethical issues,
writing a press release.

Unit 7 Finance
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – sustainable banking, banking prospectives.
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “Day of reckon for innumerate bankers” banking
trends, problems, vocabulary.
BUSINESS SKILLS – managing questions, answering.
WRITING - formal letters
CASE STUDY – “Dragons and Angels” picking up the best venture to support, discussing,
decision-making meetings, writing a formal letter.

Unit 8 Consultants
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – operation consulting, types of consulting, features.
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “Day in the life of a management consultant”,
advantages and disadvantages of the job, features.
BUSINESS SKILLS – negotiating, strategies, types, skills.
WRITING - summarizing terms and conditions, vocabulary and structure.
CASE STUDY – New market opportunities, entering a new market, negotiating, writing a
formal letter.

Unit 9 Strategy
LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – strategy, goals and values.
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “Living strategy and death of the five-year plan”
changing strategies, economic strategies, development strategies.
BUSINESS SKILLS – brainstorming and creativity, how to brainstorm, strategies, tricks.
WRITING - mission statements
CASE STUDY – “Stella International Airways: strategy for the skies” making strategic changes
and decisions, SWOT analysis, brainstorming, writing proposals.

Unit 10 Online business

LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – developments in online business.
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “The new corporate firefighters”, business
development issues, vocabulary and useful phrases.
BUSINESS SKILLS – presentations, thinking on your feet, structure of a presentation, dealing
with difficult questions.
WRITING - writing formal e-mails
CASE STUDY – “The fashion screen” prioritizing complaints, dealing with customers, social
media presentation writing a summary.

Unit 11 New business

LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – advice for start-up, types, advantages and dis advantages.
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “Go the distance with a one-trick pony”, starting new
business, vocabulary and useful phrases.
BUSINESS SKILLS – chasing payment, tips for new business owners.
WRITING - formal e-mail inquiry
CASE STUDY – Healthy growth for OTC Tech start up company looking for way to grow its
business, decision making meetings, assessing and negotiating, writing an email to your
consultant.

Unit 12 Project management

LISTENING AND DISCUSSION – issues in project management
READING AND LANGUAGE – the text “Fine-tune your project schedule”, improving project
schedule, vocabulary and useful phrases.
BUSINESS SKILLS – teleconferencing, organising and participating.
WRITING - avoiding conflict in e-mails
CASE STUDY – Creating a world class port, solving problems, decision making meeting,
teleconferencing, writing a short report.

III. READING LIST

a. Core literature
Philippova, M.M. Business English: a textbook for undergraduate students (B1-C1) /
M.M. Philippova — Moscow: Urait Publushers, 2019 (and later editions). – 309 p. –
URL: https://proxylibrary.hse.ru:2093/book/delovoy-angliyskiy-yazyk-b1-c1-433690. –
Urait Online Database.

b. Supplementary literature
Yakusheva ,I.V. Business English. Introduction into professional English: a coursebook for
undergraduate students / I.V. Yakusheva, Demchenkova O.A. – Moscow: Urait Publishers, 2019
(and later editions) — 148 p. — URL: https://proxylibrary.hse.ru:2093/book/delovoy-angliyskiy-
yazyk-introduction-into-professional-english-433852. – Urait Online Database.

Chikaleva, L.S. English for public speaking / Chikaleva L.S. — Moscow: Urait Publishers, 2019
(and later editions). — 167 p. — URL: https://proxylibrary.hse.ru:2093/book/angliyskiy-yazyk-
dlya-publichnyh-vystupleniy-b1-b2-english-for-public-speaking-434097 . – Urait Online
Database.

Wallwork, Adrian. English for Academic Correspondence and Socializing, Springer

Science+Business Media, LLC 2011. URL: https://proxylibrary.hse.ru:2176/book/10.1007/978-
1-4419-9401-1. – Springer Books Online Database.

Wallwork, Adrian. English for Presentaions at International Conferences, Springer

Science+Business Media, LLC 2010. URL: https://proxylibrary.hse.ru:2176/book/10.1007/978-
1-4419-6591-2. – Springer Books Online Database.

IV. GRADING SYSTEM

Assessment formats
Types of Forms of 1 year Options **
Assessment assessment
1 2 3 4

Current Unit tests * * * - Written format - 15-30 min.

assessment
Home assignment * * * - Oral report - 5-7 min.

Written homework * * * - emails, formal letters, reports, etc.

Presentation * - Presentation 10-15 слайдов

Midpoint Final module work * * * - Written format - 80 min.

assessment

Final Examination * - Oral format – 15-20 min. per

assessment student

The overall score formula for the course

The overall grade formula consists of two components – the total cumulative grade (60%) and the exam
grade (40%). Therefore, the overall score formula is the following:

Go = Gc*0,6+Ge*0,4

As the course lasts for 3 modules each module has its own share in the total cumulative grade. 1st module
– 30%, 2nd – 30%, 3rd – 40%. The total score formula is the following:

Gc = Module 1*0,3+Module 2*0,3+Module 3*0,4

The cumulative module grade consists of two parts which have equal share 50%. The first part, current
assessment, includes unit tests, home assignments, written hometasts and presentation. In this case all the
grades are summed up and then divided by the total number of works done during a given module. The
second parts, midpoint assessment, includes final module work. The cumulative module grade formula is
the following:

Gcm = Current assessment grade*0,5+*Midpoint Assessment grade*0,5

If the total cumulative grade for the whole course is from 8 to10 it might become student’s final grade
automatically if the teacher allows it.

For rounding the grades there used the following way. Figures 6, 7, 7, 9 are to be rounded upwards to the
whole number, for instance 2,6 becomes 3, and vice versa. Figures 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 are rounded downwards,
for example, 2,5 becomes 2.

V. GUIDELINES FOR KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT

Assessment criteria

Oral answers criteria

Criteria 3 2 1 0
assessment
Contents and Student knows Student knows Student knows the Student knows the
correspondence the course the course course material course material
to the course material very material very poorly with few or very poorly or
material good without good without or many factual cannot speak at all,
factual mistakes, with few factual mistakes, provides provides no
provides mistakes, few or no adequate adequate real-life
adequate real- provides a few real-life examples, examples, cannot
life examples, adequate real- cannot explain explain economic
can explain life examples, some economic terms and cases,
economic terms can explain terms and cases, speaks on the
 and cases, speaks some economic speaks on the course topics
freely on the terms and cases, course topics poorly or cannot
course topics speaks on the poorly speak at all
course topics to
some level
Lexical and Lexical and Lexical and Lexical and Lexical and
grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical
range resources of the resources of the resources of the resources of the
course are used at course are course are used course are used
full potential, no properly used poorly with poorly with
usage and with occasional multiple mistakes, multiple mistakes
contextual mistakes, there there are multiple or not used at all,
mistakes are some small usage and there are multiple
and rare usage contextual mistakes usage and
and contextual contextual mistakes
mistakes
Coherence and All arguments Not all Very little Very little or no
Cohesion are laid out arguments are coherence and coherence and
logically, speech given logically, cohesion which cohesion, speech is
is well organized, organization of impede very poorly
various linkers speech communication, organized, there are
are used sometimes is not speech is poorly practically or no
clear, there are organized, there are linkers at all
not enough practically no
linkers linkers
Fluency and Few or no phonetic Multiple phonetic
Phonetics mistakes and fluent mistakes and
speech tempo, pauses, thinks a lot
mistakes do not how to phrase the
impede answer, doesn’t
communication know how to use
pauses, rhythm
isn’t stable,
mistakes impede
communication
Maximum points
- 10

Assessment Samples

Sample work for current control assessment (Unit test)

Unit Test 1

Answer all thirty questions. There is one mark per question.

VOCABULARY: PUBLIC SPEAKING
1 Here are some comments about presentations. Write in the missing consonant letters.
1 I found his _____e_____ _____u _____e_____ very distracting.
2 Sorry, I don’t understand this word on your _____a_____ _____ou_____.
3 Your _____a _____e and _____e _____iv _____ry is a little too fast for me to follow.
4 Let me _____e_____ _____ _____a _____e that differently for you.
5 Begin your talk by _____ _____ee_____i_____ _____ people as they arrive.
6 I suggest you use a larger font on your _____i_____ua_____ ai_____ _____.
7 I often start my talks with a story or personal a_____e_____ _____o_____e to get the audience’s
attention.

Sample work for midpoint control assessment

Listening

A Listen to a radio interview with Scott Duran, CEO of the US firm Charters Inc. Take notes and then
answer these questions (1–8).
1 What type of company is Charters? . . . . . . . . . ..
2 Where is its main location? .......... .
3 How long has the company been outperforming its rivals? . . . . . . . . . . .

Scott outlines three main targets. What are they?

4 ................................................................................ .
5 ................................................................................ .
6 ................................................................................ .
7 What percentage of the company’s sales are currently outside the US? .......... .
8 Where are the company’s best prospects for sales in ten years’ time? .......... .

Listen again and choose the best answer, a, b or c, to these questions (9–15).
9 Scott believes it is important for the company to …
a) restructure its organisation.
b) increase productivity.
c) keep looking for ways to improve.
10 Why is dialogue with customers important for Charters?
a) To involve them in developing new products.
b) To be able to deal more effectively with their problems.
c) To improve services.
11 What will happen when old plants are closed?
a) Many people will be made redundant.
b) Most workers will have left before the closures.
c) All workers will be transferred to other jobs within the company.
12 What reason does Scott give for building plants in Asia?
a) Manufacturing in the UK is in decline.
b) Production costs are lower in Asia.
 c) The potential market is enormous.
13 How does Scott describe his strategy for expanding into Asia?
a) Buy up existing plant.
b) Form partnerships with local companies.
c) Build new plants and operate them independently.
14 Why is it better to send older managers to work in plants overseas?
a) Older managers are more highly regarded in Asia.
b) Young people don’t have the right experience.
c) Young people are less motivated.
15 Which of these statements best reflects Scott’s view of business?
a) You get the best leadership by offering high bonuses.
b) Success depends on having an ethical approach to management.
c) It is important to look to the long term.

Language
Business idioms

Three consultants have set up a new partnership together. Below is an extract from a meeting
between them. Complete the gaps (16–23) with an appropriate idiom from this list. There are two
you do not need.

a long shot
get a toehold
get off the ground
go on a big spending spree
heading down the wrong track
jumping on the bandwagon
kick around
kick off
on the shelf
stick to the point

Consultant 1: We’ve got excellent skills, but we’re still relatively unknown. We need to find some ways
to promote ourselves so that we can . . . . . . . . . . . 16 in the market. I’ve asked you to come this morning
so that we can . . . . . . . . . . . 17 a few ideas.
Consultant 2: Well, perhaps I can . . . . . . . . . . . 18 with this: why don’t we consider advertising?
Consultant 3: That might work, but the chances are we’d spend a lot of money and not get any business
out of it. It’s . . . . . . . . . . . 19.
Consultant 2: But our business will never . . . . . . . . . . . 20 unless we’re willing to invest in promoting
ourselves. I’m not suggesting we . . . . . . . . . . . 21.We could afford some small ads in one of the
professional journals, for example.
Consultant 3: The trouble is, there’s such a lot of competition out there. I know the demand for
consultancy is high at present, but too many other people are . . . . . . . . . . . 22 right now.
Consultant 1: I don’t think that’s relevant to the present discussion. Can we please . . . . . . . . . . . 23?

Multi-word verbs
Complete the sentences below (24–31) with the correct word from the box.

against away into off on out through up

24 If we don’t start reining in costs very soon, we’re likely to go . . . . . . . . . . . of business.

25 If we want to maintain growth, we need to tap . . . . . . . . . . . new sources of revenue.
26 The R&D department has come . . . . . . . . . . . with some highly innovative ideas.
27 If we go ahead with this product, we’re going to come up . . . . . . . . . . . some stiff competition.
28 An over-complicated ordering system could put many customers . . . . . . . . . . . .
29 There must be a solution we can both agree on: why don’t we talk things . . . . . . . . . . . ?
30 This project is going nowhere. I think we should give up . . . . . . . . . . . it.
31 There was a lot of resistance to the idea, so we’ve now backed . . . . . . . . . . . from it.

Writing
You represent a firm of market research consultants which is proposing to carry out research into
mobile phone use in Africa for a mobile phone producer (the client company). Look at the informal
notes below and draw up the first part of a proposal in three paragraphs, with subheadings as shown.
You do not need to specify details such as costs and deadlines for the work. You should write 200–250
words.

Background
Growing mobile use in Africa.
Reasons: 1) limited phone networks (many have
no access to landlines);
2) more local businesses in some areas;
3) more people with income to buy
phones.
Client requests analysis of each country ®develop
strategic marketing plan

Aims
Client needs: • clear understanding of African
market + factors influencing
demand;
• forecast for next 5 years;
• which countries most important? –
compile database for each.

Methods
Collect quantitative + qualitative data – establish
current patterns, future trends. Use several different
analysis techniques ® draw up profile of existing
users, how they use phones. Provide basis for strategic
model – help client develop marketing plans, target
potential users.

Examination cards

CARD 1 First impressions

CARD 2 Training

CARD 3 Energy

CARD 4 Marketing

CARD 5 Employment Trends

CARD 6 Ethics

CARD 7 Finance
CARD 8 Consultants

CARD 9 Strategy

CARD 10 Online Business

CARD 11 New Business

CARD 12 Project Management

VI. SPECIAL EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE SUPPORT

5.1 Software
# Product name Access
1. Microsoft Windows 10 University Intranet (See the agreement)
2. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 University Intranet (See the agreement)

5.2 Online databases and resources

# Product name Access
Professional databases and reference systems
1. Consultant Plus University Intranet (See the agreement)
2. Urait Online Library URL: https://biblio-online.ru/

3. ProQuest Ebook Central Database URL: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/

Internet Resources
1. MacMillan Online Dictionary URL: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/
2. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary URL: https://www.merriam-webster.com/
3. Online Dictionary and Thesaurus URL: https://www.thesaurus.com/
“Dictionary.Com. Thesaurus.Com”
4. British National Corpus URL: http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
5. Corpus of Contemporary American English URL: https://corpus.byu.edu/COCA/

a. Classrooms and equipment

To teach Business English, classrooms need to be equipped with the following: a desktop
computer (laptops are accepted as well); overhead projector with a remote control; Internet
access, MS Office software.
 VII. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

Classroom activities are practical sessions which unclude the following educational technologies
for

individual working:

- oral report,
- presentation,
- research;

group working:

- case study,
- presentation,
- debates,
- research,
- discussion.